Pike St, Lower East Side

Pike Street is like a lot of other lower Lower East Side / Chinatown streets: depressing despite being crowded. The streets are packed for a number of the blocks on Pike. And, it's dirty, smelly and hard to navigate because of the traffic. I'm not a fan of this part of town. I think it's really overwhelming. And, I don't cook so Chinatown areas don't have a lot to offer me. I wouldn't want to live on Pike. I think it's too far from the majority of public transport and there's nothing to do at night. Plus, the buildings are really depressing.
Once Allen turns into to Pike, it's all over for me. The view of the bridge is nice, but you can see it once and be fine with not seeing it again for a while. There are some shops but they're not my kind of thing. If you do find yourself on Pike, there are a lot of banks and delis so you're in luck if you like both of those. Honestly, that's about it.